Villanova's defense makes the difference in win over South Florida

RADNOR -- Only time will tell if this Villanova team is the one that beat Louisville and Syracuse in a span of five days, lost to Columbia at home by 18 or somewhere in between. One thing is certain, though, the Wildcats are making strides.

For the second straight game the Wildcats did not go to sleep on defense in the second half, which had been something of a trend.

Before Saturday afternoon's 68-40 destruction of struggling South Florida at the Pavilion, the Wildcats had not held an opponent to less than 25 points in the second half of a game. It was also the first time since the Syracuse game that Villanova was able to win while leading at the break.

"It's a good win for us," Villanova coach Jay Wright said. "Big East wins are good wins. I thought we were really consistent defensively ... I like where we're going."

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Where Villanova (15-9 overall, 6-5 Big East) is headed next is on its most critical road trip of the season. The Wildcats visit No. 17 Cincinnati Tuesday night and then are at Connecticut for a matinee in Hartford Saturday.

The Wildcats are in desperate need of a quality road win to move from one of the first four teams out -- which is where ESPN bracketologist and former Daily Times correspondent Joe Lunardi had Villanova in his latest NCAA Tournament bracket prediction Saturday -- to one that has reason to watch the tournament selection show.

"How you play on the road in this league really shows what you're all about," Wright said. "We've got to go in there to Cincinnati and have to do it. I don't think we were bad at Notre Dame, but we weren't good enough, and we realize that. We realize that we have to get better. We have to get better from today and what we do on the road will prove what kind of team we are. You've got to win on the road in this lead. It's tough. It's really tough."

It's hard for the Wildcats to be much better than they were against the Bulls (10-12, 1-10), who have lost six in a row and 10 of 11. Villanova used a 12-0 run to break open the game early and shot 65 percent from the field to take a 39-16 lead at halftimes.

Sophomore guard Darrun Hilliard led the way with 17 points. JayVaughn Pinkston added 10 points off the bench. Forward/center Mouphtaou Yarou finished one point shy of his fifth double-double of the season, all of which have come in Big East play. He finished with nine points and 10 rebounds.

But it was Villanova's defensive effort that had Wright smiling. The 40 points were the fewest the Wildcats have ever allowed in a Big East game and it took a four-point surge by the Bulls in the final 51 seconds to get to the 40-point plateau. It took the Bulls nearly three minutes into the second half to reach the 20-point mark and nearly another 12 minutes top get to 30 points. JaVontae Hawkins was the only USF player in double figures. He finished with 13 points.

In USF's defense, the Bulls were playing without leading scorer Victor Rudd, who missed the game with a groin injury. But even Rudd could not have saved USF on this afternoon. The Bulls were nothing short of horrendous. The Wildcats held the Bulls to 23.4 percent shooting overall (11-for-47) and just 5.9 percent from 3-point range (1-for-17).

All of the sudden it looks like the Wildcats are willing to go the extra mile on defense.

"We never overlooked defense," Hilliard said. "We always take pride in our defense and we had to figure out how to do it as a team, not just as a bunch of individuals."

What impressed Wright the most about that defensive effort is that the Wildcats did not slack off when they had the 23-point halftime lead. Villanova maintained its defensive aggressiveness while it built its lead to as much as 34 points in the second half (67-33) before settling for their most lopsided victory of the season.

"I think we're learning, "Wright said. "I think this is an inexperienced team that's very coachable, but also, every experience is an important one. Having a lead like this at halftime and coming out in the second half and taking care of business is new. We've had games were we had the lead and didn't come out and take care of business so that was a good step for us."